Fiona Apple

Her debut album Tidal (1996) has gone multiple-platinum with sales driven by the unique style of the piano-playing singer/songwriter. As a child of a blended family, she speaks both to and for a generation of children who have grown up shuttling between the homes of their divorced parents. Her ambivalent attitude toward public recognition became her hallmark after the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards when she gave her acceptance speech for the Best New Artist award, hinting that she felt that accepting the award was a sellout to all that is superficial in the music industry. Her latest is Extraordinary Machine (2005).